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The Sun-Nbune welcomes your let~ ters. All submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytlme telephone number. name and address The Sun-'mbune reserves the ri t to publish or not publis and to edit for clar» lty and space. Luna's to the Editor. "I. Sun-Whom 8290 Main St sumac, GM LM l0? is comprised of 100 community publications across Ontario. The York Region Newspaper Group also includes The Liberal, sewing Richmond Hill and Thomhill, Vaughan Citizen,The Era-Banner (Newmarket/Aurora). Markham Economist Sun. Gemgina Advocate, York Region Business Times, Nonh of the City, yorkregionmm and York Region Printing. York Region Media Group community newspapers The Sun-Tribune, published every Thursday and Saturday. is a division of the Metmland Media Group Ltd., a molly-owned subsidiary of Tom: Corporation. Metmiand Classifich Jmuon.yrm1.corp (Staff-Tribune Manager Dawna Andrews dandmws®yrmgcom lETTERS POLICY Mike Banuille mbanullle@ymg.com DISTRIBUTION Circulation Supervisor Carolyn Norman mormané’yrmgrom ADVERTISING Retail Manager jmason9yrmgrom PRODUCTION MEDIA DISTRIBUTION 905-640-2612 ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 icd: 1-800-743-3353 1x: 905-640-8778 905 Ennom Editor lim Mason EDI TOR IA L 05-640â€"2612 905-640-8778 'bune 2612 0-8778 [AL SING 2612 â€"743~3353 0-8778 Snn47b ufi'i'li'i O ' NION S Stouflville, 0‘ www.yo¢kre PUBLISHER Ic Still, does anyone care? When council re-organlzed the six wards of Whitchurch-Stouffville â€" quick, name your ward - there was barely a peep from the electorate. Who really cares out there? We’d like council to return to host- ing only evening meetings. It’s fairer to residents, the majority of whom work outside of town, and members of council who still hold down day jobs. 0 If you wanted to attend a meeting of council, how does 3 pm. on a Tues- day suit you? That’s when roughly half of the meetings are held. It’s convenient to town staff and some councillors, but is it the best time forithe community? Many council candidates think so. They believe the current council built or renovated too many big-ticket items (arenas, park, theatre, fire hall, works yard) during the last four years. Members of council say«all but a small percentage of the debt will be paid off by developers. It’s the cost of growing a once small town. Besides, new and existing residents are asking for the facilities, they say. 0 Is Whitchurch-Stouffville too far in debt? Look for this one to be front and centre on the fall election debate circuit. There are real-life issues you should consider before this year’s election: And you'd probably at least con- sider attending if council raised your taxes by 15 per cent, sold ofi a park or reduced garbage pick-up to once a month. You probably have attended if a proposal was before council to put a landfill site, human or pet cemetery, water park or stock car track in your back yard. (All have been in front of Whitchurch-Stouffville politicians.) We know few of you have attended a meeting of Whitchurch-Stouffville council. Sessions are often only taken in by staff and a handful of council watchdogs, including candidates for election. We know interest in municipal politics is right up there with NAS- CAR auto racing. In both cases, many who do watch just tune in for the crashes. We know that far fewer than half of you who are eligible to vote will d0'so. Municipal election day across Ontario is Oct. 25. In just over two months, Whitchurch-Stouffville residents will have the opportunity to elect a new local government. Anyane care election comings Editorial We appreciate the supportive calls and e-mails from several people in the community who know Laura well and, like us, expressed disbelief that The We are very _proud 70f our daugh- ter's accomplishments, which include scholarship offers from three universi- ties. 3. Being accepted to a top university music program involves participating in a very competitive and demanding auditioning process. Due to the fact she had broken her foot and already missed two months of work. the schedule con- flicts of auditioning made taking fur- ther time oh” impossible and made it necessary to temporarily quit her job. 2. Laura contributed countless hours of community involvement dur- ing her entire high school career, includ- ing participation in the Markham and Uxbridge community concert bands, volunteering at the OSPCA, taking a leadership role on the Stouffville Dis- trict Secondary School music council, assisting the music department staff, participating in every optional music ensemble (including one that she insti- gated) and voluntary tutoring of several younger students. Her typical day start- ed at 7:30 am. and went past 5:30 pm. 1. In returning to Grade 12, our daughter took several new courses in which she excelled. Her high average was helped by outstanding marks in these courses. Ms Aprile made some hurtful and inaccurate comments regarding our daughter Laura’s recent academic suc- cess. We would like to set the record straight regarding inaccuracies in her letter and the preceding article. Re: Story ignored award winners, let- ter to the editor by Dudi Aprile. Aug. 5, anq Townigtop gr_ads named, July 22. Attack on graduate inaccurate TAOIST TAI cm 50c GRAND OPENING fn'iburie saw fit to publish such a L:me UPLNINGfiz-g Duixsorv HILL RD. SUNDAY AUG 15- NOON -ZRMV FOR CMSSES (ALL 905-6-w-om DON'T HAVE FUI ST TAI CH1 swim/5i V, {I (’K' A .3 / J ,5: I x; ‘ ND OPEN‘NG‘IT'25D15‘50NHILLRD. I : H i Letters to the Editor In future, Mr. Editor, please practise what you are preaching. We do have theflghtâ€"andtheneed-toknowwho islivingamongus. There have been countless cases where the names of drunk drivers. marijuana grow-op owners, drug deal- ers and others criminals have never been identified by your paper. Do we not have the “right to know” who these people are? These low-lifes certainly afiectour lives. I have frequently noticed this “rep- utable community newspaper," very seldom, if ever, reports the names of our neighbours who get in trouble with the law. To quote the first paragraph of the editorial: “The credo of any reputable community newspaper is that readers have the right to know important infor- mation affecting their lives." I find it extremely ironic you write an entire editorial castigating the courts for withholding information in court cases when you do precisely the same in your paper. Re: Censoring your right to know editofiaL Aug. 5. Editorial on courts hypocritical negative and uninformed attack on a talented and hard-working young per- son’s accomplishments. . PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot b What do you think of these issues or others? E-mail letters to the editor to jmason@yrmg.com HAVE YOUR SAY 6290 Main St. Stouflville, 0N. MA 167 www.mgonmm W'ibune 924 nooer. £2. ogozm 824 x><m Ea ANDREW MAKOWSKI 8K NANCY CROOME STOUFFVILLE D.R.WILKINSON STDUFFVILLE Our policy isn't legislated by government or the courts, but it's commonly used and it's fair, in our opinion. 7 The cases can stretch over sev- eral months, if not years, as they travel through the system. We'll name the accused if he’s public figure, too. Iim Mason is editor of The Sun- Dibune. So, we use our best judgment not only in choosing which crime cases are of highest public interâ€" est, but also in selecting which cases we can follow to the end. Typically, the cases in which we name people charged â€" if not banned from doing so by the courts or Criminal Code â€" are major crimes, such as homicides, sexual assault, fraud and theft. York police laid 10,847 charges last year. It’s virtually impossible for us to follow all of the accused through the justice system. If our newspaper names some- one-accused of a crime, our policy is to follow the case through to its conclusion: guilty or innocent. Why don’i we publish articles for every charge laid, with the nahieg of eyery person charged? Unfortunately, it's all too com- mon for people to jump to the conclusion if someone is charged with a crime, then he must be guilty and a “criminal”. But that’s not always the case, obviously. Innocent or guilty, was that fair to the victims and the accused? Two years later, when Donald MacNaughton was found guilty, our reporter was the lone media person in the courtroom. Big-city GTA TV, radio and print reporters jockeyed for posi- tion on Main Street across from what was then Stouffville Mis- sionary Church in 1993 for a York Regional Police news conference, announcing an ‘Uxbridge man had been charged with sexual- ly assaulting two eight-year-old boys in the church. Enrron IN Cum Debora Kelly Busmnss MAN/mun Robert Lazurko Dumcmn, OPERATIONS Barry Black To name, or not name with Jim Mason Off The Top Damn, REGIONAL Plonums Cussurmn, Tonu’s Hones Debra Weller Damon, Alum-Isms, Din-munch: Nicole Fletcher